


Future

by gustin_puckerman



Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-20
Updated: 2017-12-20
Packaged: 2019-02-17 15:42:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13080072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gustin_puckerman/pseuds/gustin_puckerman
Summary: "I don't think I want kids." — In the alternate universe where Tahno tagged along with Team Avatar, fell for Korra along the way, and, few years down the line, talked about having children.





	Future

**Author's Note:**

> This was just meant to be a writing exercise, but I like how it turned out? Yeah. In any case, I can't really imagine Korra being a traditional mom wherein she's interested in the whole "giving birth and raising full grown kids" idea. Tahno, too, to be honest. However, I _can_ imagine them being like, accidental parental figures when they're much, much older. They're both a lot relaxed then, I'd imagine. Or whatever. You can take whatever maybe-future they might have however you like :)
> 
> In any case, do enjoy. And signal boost to people who can't see themselves being maternal or parental. Whatever you want, it's valid and you should be proud.

By the time they're thirty-two, Bolin comes home with a small baby girl bundled in his arm.

Asami coos over it non-stop, Mako wears an exciting grin showcasing his pride over being officially titled an "Uncle", and Bolin has to be passed a napkin every thirty minutes whenever he tears up at the sight of her daughter being actually _alive_. Korra, in all honesty, is delighted. As young Wei Teng was tucked against her own arms and pressed to her chest, there is a wave of peacefulness there that tugs at her. Wei Teng stirs, apparently heavy in her sleep but not quite undisturned, and makes a gurgling sorts of hum when Korra shushes her in fear that she could actually wake up.

A few feet from her, Tahno watches. He's never offered to have Wei Teng in his arm — and nor does anybody actually ask — but he does passes Bolin countless of napkin, drawling cutting remarks like "Oh, get a hold of _yourself_ ," that isn't really cutting at all. Bolin looks at Tahno with a small, thankful smile, and when Bolin spills a little tea as he slides over a cup, Tahno is relaxed enough not to make a big deal out of it.

That night when she's curled against his side, with him admiring the moon, in the tea room (because they were never the Normal Enough Couple to actually retreat to their bedrooms to sleep at even hours, because, _pfft_ , who needs sleep?) Korra admits lamely how she's never thought of herself as someone's mother. "It's not like—you know. It's not that being a mom isn't great. Heck, I think it's the best thing in the world! But, you know, _kids_ —they just—I just don't see myself, like—" and her words go on like this for a while: choppy, unsettled, filled with an anxiety a thirty-something Avatar shouldn't really possesses, while Tahno just sits, half-amused half- _not_ , one arm idling by as it's circled around her waist to keep her flushed and close.

"I don't think I want them." She finally admits, breath gone and nervous energy buzzing.

Tahno never loosens his grip.

"Okay." Is all he says, surprising subdue he knows, for a man who's always known to have a comeback or some "sleazy" replies at hand. But he's older now, maybe even a bit _wiser_ if he dare say so, and — there're plenty of things in the world that could be wrong — his girlfriend not wanting a child isn't one of them.

"Okay?" Korra asks, unsure. And why wouldn't she?

Tahno understands - the world may be a little advanced than what their ancestors have been through, but most women were expected to marry and bear children come the appropriate age. Korra, he knows well, are not an exception to this predicament. Papers and interviews about the world anticipating her decision on the matter has been brought up several times, though she's an expert at dodging them.

They never really talk about marriage — let alone _kids_ — but Tahno admits the idea of presenting her with a necklace isn't so horrible.

Like he said though, they never really talk about it, so he doesn't.

"Yes, Uh-vatar. What? You'd expect me to _yell_?" Oh, of course they've yelled before, several times throughout their relationship from rivals to friends to something more. Tahno doesn't really like it though. Yelling is a form of him losing his control, and to be reminded of it makes him shiver. "You don't want children. It's alright. I understand."

Korra is silent.

"And plus," he adds, just to reassure, "I don't quite see myself with _them_ , as well."

Korra hums, and thuds her forehead against the space of where his neck slopes to meet his jaw, and Tahno is at peace with tonight. He realises, not for the first time, that he really loves her. Strong-headed, and calm. Bold, and silly. Everything about her is just — it still catches him off-guard. He wonders if he should be nicer at this, about explaining how having kids or getting married or whatever things they were _expected_ to do hadn't really mattered. Tahno has her — even if they were friends (even when they were rivals) he's content.

"Yeah?" She laughs a little, and the tension in her body is disappearing. Tahno is no fool at trying to convince himself that they won't talk about this matter thoroughly at some point later, but he's glad that the conversation heads this way for now.

"Yes." He answers, confident, head turning slightly to trail a kiss at her temple, and feeling like just that one peck isn't enough. "Relationship is a two-way street. And if this is what you're sure of, then I'm sure of it too. On the contrary to popular belief, I'm not hundred-percent a _jerkface boyfriend_."

Korra groans then, initiating a yell about how she'd only called him that just _three time_ (about twelve times) before he chuckles and drowns her argument with sloppy kisses. Two years from now, Korra will mouth "Let's elope" over a rim of a beer glass after a hard day of being the Avatar with their hands intertwined on the table while he oversees a document over a new non-bending athletic tournament he's co-founded and he'll fish out a necklace that he's been keeping for five months on their bedside table for her to see the next day. And, _maybe_ , just five years after that, they travel to a remote area in the South Pole for a business she cannot avoid, and Tahno will meet a bright six-year old orphan with grey eyes and dark skin holding his two-year old brother and will accidentally nursed them for the two weeks he's stuck there. Korra just might _possibly_ come home after a meeting to see Tahno on the floor, reading, while the kids sleep on their bed. And just _maybe_ , when they decide to bring the two boys back to Republic City, it wasn't that unexpected at all.

But for now, under the bright shine of the moon, Tahno kisses Korra through clashes of teeth and her unexpected giggles. He's a little pissed - doesn't she know they need to be quiet? But funnily, he's not angry at all.

"And even if you change your mind in the future, it doesn't make whatever you want now any less valid, _Pretty Girl_."

Korra is all smiles and bright eyes when she whispers, " _Fuck_ , I love you."


End file.
